Ex-husband facing prison sentence for non-payment of divorce settlement
Judge hears of 'false' claims of impoverishment designed to mislead the court
The former wife of a multi-millionaire oil tycoon has asked the High Court to send her ex-husband to prison because he allegedly failed to pay her the £17.5m she was awarded in their divorce settlement.
Michael Prest was ordered to pay the money in a lump sum to his ex-wife Yasmin Prest after a ruling in 2011. Ms Prest said her ex-husband was in contempt of court for failing to pay the settlement, along with £400,000 in annual payments for her and their four children.
Judge Mr Justice Moylan heard that Ms Prest did not want to send her husband to prison but that she had no alternative as her ex-husband was far from, as he claimed, "impoverished", as he had enjoyed holidays in the Caribbean, New York and France. He had also spent approximately £12,000 on VIP tickets to a pop concert for his children.
Mr Prest was not in court for the hearing as he was on a three-week holiday in New York with the children. In a letter read out in court by his barrister, Sarah Dines of 1 Gray's Inn Square, Mr Prest said: "I have not killed anyone, nor have I committed any crime. I have simply slipped on the accident of life. I have taken care of my children and will always do so. Any suggestion that I am running away is unfortunate."
Jeremy Posnansky QC, representing Ms Prest, told the High Court that Mr Prest's "false claims of impoverishment" and "tale of woe" were "untrue" and had been "widespread and persistent" attempts to mislead the court.
In 2011, Mr Justice Moylan ruled that Mr Prest's net assets were worth £37.5m and ordered Mr Prest to pay £17.5m up-front, as well as annual payments of £300,000. The decision was overturned at the Court of Appeal but was successfully appealed by Ms Prest at the Supreme Court last year.
Mr Justice Moylan will give his ruling in the enforcement proceedings at a hearing later today.
|
Lottie Tyler is a solicitor in the family and private client team at Weightmans "Less than a year after the Supreme Court handed down a final judgment, the court has been told that the oil trader Michael Prest owes over £400,000 in child and spousal maintenance to his former wife. In such situations there are a range of different methods of enforcing payment and the former Ms Prest has opted to apply for the most draconian of all, sending him to prison. "This is not the first application for committal in a high profile divorce case, the entrepreneur Scot Young served a prison sentence for his failure to provide adequate details of his finances to the court. The case may not, however, be as clear cut as the decision to convict Scot Young. "Mr Prest has countered the argument that the arrears are due saying that he has paid significant other contributions towards the children and also his former wife's household staff. In addition, he is alleging that he has ceased trading in the oil business. Mrs Prest has, however, pointed out these payments do not accord with the terms of the order and drawn the court's attention to various expensive holidays Mr Prest has enjoyed while not paying the maintenance the court has ordered. "Enforcement proceedings can be as vexed and costly as the original financial proceedings on divorce, especially in relation to on-going maintenance payments where the sum owed accumulates on a monthly basis. If the paying party's financial situation changes and they can no longer meet the level of payments ordered, the onus is on them to inform the court and ask for the level of payments to be revisited. Unless Mr Prest has taken this step his claims will be treated with a level of scepticism. "Mrs Prest's difficulty will arise if the threat of prison and the consequences of a criminal record fail to make Mr Prest pay up. Scot Young chose to serve his prison time leaving Michelle Young no closer to understanding his financial position. If Mr Prest is equally blasé Mrs Prest is back to square one." |
'Back to square one?'